


Champagne

by Trekkele



Series: A Townie, A Linguist, And Several Kinds Of Tea. [8]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Vaguely Mentioned Abuse, a fair amount of snark, alcohol mention, and serious conversations, jim is one of the girls, jim is wiggling his way into uhuras heart and she refuses to acknowledge this, ok no she kind of does here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 00:16:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17254037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trekkele/pseuds/Trekkele
Summary: A fluffy middling piece where nothing is said but plenty is, and also Jim rocks at eyeliner.





	Champagne

**Author's Note:**

> So i was bitching about vague winter holidays on tumblr and decided to try writing a vague winter holiday fic. This universe seemed perfect for it, but honestly I’m not really sure what’s going on here.  
> Either way Happy Holidays and have a Wonderful, May-All-Your-Dreams-Come-True-And-Enemies-Be-Smited New Year!  
> Also I’m posting this from my phone because my new years resolution (hah) is going to be to stress less, post more. It doesnt have to sit three months in a folder for me to post it. Right?

Nyota still remembered her first school dance. Well, obviously, she wasn’t  _ that  _ old, but it was still layered behind nostalgia in way that made it feel farther back than it actually was. She’d felt very grown up, in her soft green dress and her borrowed heels and the red lipstick she’d carefully applied in the hover, her father smirking in the rearview mirror and pretending not to notice. 

 

Something told her that the StarFleet Academy Winter Ball was going to be a bit more formal than getting kissed by her best friend behind the speaker system, all smudged lip gloss and giggles and the heady feeling of being young and alive. Which reminded her, she needed to RSVP for Asha’s wedding. 

 

The Ball itself might be formal and steeped in more traditions then the federation could shake a stick at, but the after parties wouldn't be. She might even let Gaila and Jim and that grumpy doctor of his drag her to one. 

Or maybe she’d flirt at Spock in High Vulcan and watch his ears turn green as the hall emptied out, blaming it on the champagne.

 

Tis the season, after all. 

 

Winter break started the day after the ball, a week of no classes and no tests and no TA duties, just college kids on break getting to pretend they had no responsibilities at all. She planned on dragging Gaila and her brother Kai out to her hometown, convinced her parents would be absolutely  thrilled at another two people to dote on, since apparently Nyota and her three sisters (and their spouses and kids) and her baby brother weren’t enough. 

 

But right now she was watching Jim lounge next to Gaila on her bed, fidgeting with a tiny compact mirror and frantically going over the list of starship hierarchies, and diplomats, and people to avoid. 

Gaila might not be the first Orion in StarFleet, but chances are she would be the only one there tonight, and Nyota knew she took it as a personal responsibility to be the model cadet no one thought she was. 

 

She’d dragged them to every boutique in the city looking for the right dress, drawn up a battle plan that would make an Andorian proud (and made Kirk laugh and joke about princess prom - which led to a five hour marathon of an old cartoon that was frankly  _ adorable) _ . Now Gaila was twirling her eyeliner around the way she always did when nervous, and Nyota wasn't quite sure what else to do. 

 

“Gai,  _ Admiral Archer _ sponsored your academy application.  _ T’Pol  _ was the one who recruited you, remember?” She said, reaching for those long green fingers and squeezing tight. Gaila gave her a tiny smile, leg jittering up and down. Jim took the pencil gently from her hands and nodded. 

 

“And if someone doesn't think you’re good enough, just ask them how many warp theories they’ve proposed to the board of science recently. Chances are it’s three less then you have.” Jim rifled between the spilled cosmetics bag, pulling out Gaila’s favorite tinted moisturizer and telling her to close her eyes. 

 

He messaged the mint and honey scented cream into her forehead and cheeks, gently, slowly, and despite herself Uhura felt her shoulders relax as well. 

 

“Besides, you’re going to be fine, you’re going to be  _ amazing _ . How do you greet a Vulcan ambassador?” He asked, and Gaila murmured out the greeting in flawless Vulcahnsu. Nyota preened, they’d been working on that one for weeks. Jim smirked over his shoulder, but she just stuck out her tongue and grinned. She took pride in her work, maturity be damned.

 

“Andorian?” He asked, and then cycled through the other dozen greetings Gaila had memorized and then been sure she forgot. He picked up the eyeshadow palette and started discussing which other cadets planned on going, and who was going with whom, and who had needed to change plans and color schemes and the odd bits of academy gossip he always seemed to hear before either of them. 

 

Jim Kirk seemed to live with one ear to the ground, and she can’t say it wasn’t useful. Between the two of them, they always seemed to have the academy on lockdown.

 

She should really start on her own preparations, but watching Jim dust gold and blue across Gailas face was somehow incredibly relaxing, the blusher balanced in his palm with the same care he gave a phaser.

And apparently Kirk could wield liquid eyeliner like a weapon, because those wings he gave Gaila could cut a man. 

 

He finished it all off with a deep blue lipstick, tiny gold sparkles shimmering over her cheekbones. 

 

“You deserve to be here.” He said, looking deep into Gailas eyes. Nyota almost felt like an intruder, witnessing a moment between two people more alike then she could figure out. “Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying.” 

 

It was only later she realized he’d spoken in Orion. 

 

Gaila smiled and looked into that little compact she brought everywhere. Uhura almost lost her balanced from the sudden ear piercing squeal she let out, bright and happy and completely distracted from her worrying. Gaila surged forward, not noticing the contents of her blanket spilling onto the floor, and wrapped Jim in a tight hug.

 

“Ok now do Uhura's!” She said, grabbing Kirk by the shoulders and bouncing. Jim laughed, cheeks flushed, almost shy about how happy he’d made her.

 

“Who says Uhura wants me too Gai?” he extracted himself from the bouncing Orion and got up, looking around for his satchel and jacket.

 

McCoy was on shift for another hour, and the Ball only started in two. And Gaila really did look fantastic. It had been weird, watching Jim. His body language while doing her face was all over the place, and she’d never pegged him as the type to know how to do make-up in the first place. 

 

He’d been so calm. And so  _ tense _ . And he really did do an amazing job with the eyeliner. 

 

“C’mon Kirk, you spend enough time in my room.” she said, leaning forward to grab his arm. “The least you can do is my makeup.”

Jim paused, for half a second, blue eyes wide and mouth frozen in a grin she’d never seen. He had several smiles, and never seemed to use the same one for different people or situations, and this, this was a new one.

And then he was moving again, changing directions and pulling a bar stool over from the kitchenette. 

 

He made a show of cracking his knuckles, stretching his hands above his head. “Ok then, Miss Uhura, what’re we going for? Old Hollywood Glam? Federation President of the Future? Beauty Guru?” the grin and wink he shot over his shoulder at Gaila was enough to make her break out in giggles again, and Nyota couldn’t help but laugh a little as well. She made a show of tapping her lip, thinking about her choices.

 

“Let’s try Old Hollywood, that’s always a classic.” Jim nodded, serious and also somehow not. He was always good at working a crowd, getting a laugh, a smile. A distraction.

 

“Good choice, good choice,” he reached around her for her cosmetics bag, rummaging till he found the bases he wanted. “Especially with your cheekbones,  _ damn _ , girl.” He shook his head in exaggerated awe, pulling another laugh from Gaila. She might have smirked as well.

 

“So,” she started, hoping to keep the conversation going, “How does a hick from the middle of Iowa know how to do a face like this?” he wasn’t a  _ dumb  _ hick, that’s for sure. Never had been either, despite his best efforts to fool everyone. She’d never really understood that, but wasn't sure how to bring that up either.  _ So why do you act like an idiot sometimes _ ? isn’t the best way to get your friends-friend to open up to you, and diplomacy never really got her the answer she wanted.

 

Jim was silent for a moment, eyes flicking back and forth between the cases in his lap and her face, concentrating. She felt like he knew what she was really asking him, under all that. 

 

“I got into fights a lot. As a kid.” He said finally, softly. “Close your eyes. And my Mom… she was in space. She always tried to take down time or earthside missions for longer then she was gone, but… It didn’t always work. And we didn’t vid call a lot. Open your eyes.” He leaned back a little, and nodded. His tone of voice and body language didn’t match. At all. And she couldn’t figure out why.

 

“We sent holos and letters and stuff. But it’s not like she could call my school and ask what was going on, so there was no point in letting her worry or whatever. So I learned how to cover a black eye or a cut cheek pretty quickly. And then I figured, hey, I’m using these products a lot, might as watch some vids and get good at it. It was a hobby.” He shrugged, putting the blusher down and picking up another. “And my Uncle hated it, called it “girly” and “useless”, so that was a bonus.” he grinned, quick and sharp and she couldn’t figure out what part of it all was the lie.

 

Gaila was hanging half off her bed, alternating between making kissy faces at her mirror and making heart eyes at Jim. Or Nyota. It was the same general direction. “I thought Humans had gotten ridden of that strict gender binary thing. All the cultural sensitivity classes say so.” she looked up through her lashes, stupid long and naturally curled and Nyota hated them sometimes. 

 

Jim shrugged again, tugging gently at Nyota’s chin with unexpectedly soft hands. She dropped her mouth open so that he could apply her favorite shade of red, and she wondered if he’d chosen that one on purpose. 

“They like to say we did. But my Uncle was one of the last dinosaurs to roam the earth. Didn’t like bisexuals either, said we should just pick a side.” His voice was tight, sharp, and she pretended she didn’t want to hug him, just a little. So she looked him in the eye and said nothing, nothing at all. He dropped his hand from her chin and nodded, grinning like a little kid presenting a crayon drawing to his mom. “What do you think?” 

 

She looked fantastic. 

 

She tells him so, angling her head so that the highlight he chose hits the light and sparkles, and she’s never  _ not  _ been confident in herself, but the right red lip always made her feel ready to kill a man.

 

He smiles at her, almost like he knows what she’s thinking, and lifts himself from the stool with a dramatic sigh, “Well, as much as I’d love to help you with hair, I’d probably burn someone with a curling iron and then you’d be obligated to bury me in the Phlox gardens.” He grabbed his jacket and satchel, bowing at the waist with more grace than the gesture deserved. “Ladies. I’ll see you tonight!”

 

Gaila bounded over to the closet and pulled her dress from the hanger, chattering about who she hoped to see first. The notes on diplomacy lay scattered under her bed and she had apparently forgotten all about them.

 

——

 

It felt as though every half important diplomat and starship Captain was here, hoping to catch a glimpse at the latest round of Academy recruits. If she didn’t know she looked good enough to stop three separate conversations on her way in she would be a little less confident. Maybe. Ok, probably not, but it still helped to know she looked that good.

 

Of course, the way Spock looked at her when he though no one was paying attention was definitely helping. Just because they were taking the relationship slowly ( _ very _ slowly) didn’t mean she was going to make it easy on the man. 

 

The lull in conversation between Jason and the Andorian comm officer she’d been chatting with gave her another chance to read the room, relaxed laughter and alcohol flowing in equal measure.  She spotted Jim and Gaila across the floor, holding court with Archer and T’Pol, who always showed an almost un-Vulcan pride in her recruit. Nyota would have to point that out to Gaila later. Archer threw back his head and laughed, Jim flashing him a familiar grin. She wondered how Elise was doing, if she was still getting ice cream out of unsuspecting Cadets.

 

They looked good. They looked  _ fantastic _ . Gliding around the room, black and gold on green skin and smiling. Gaila was the star, Jim somehow managing to fade into her background as she was introduced to officers and diplomats from everywhere, all of them thoroughly charmed by the quick witted cadet with the dimpled grin. Nyota wondered if she even remembered how nervous she’d been that afternoon.

 

If she started across the room now, she could get to Archer before the music started again, and maybe re-introduce herself to T’Pol. Hopefully Gaila would still be there as well, not pulled into one of the hundreds of conversations around her.

 

She keeps watching her, making her way over, and is so glad that her request for a single room was denied because if it wasn’t for the laughing, far-more-intelligent-than-pretty (and she was  _ gorgeous _ , so you can imagine) Cadet Gaila Vro, Uhura would probably have washed out in her first year, burning out with stress and the pressure she had put herself under.

 

And maybe that was a little dramatic, but she was definitely happier now then she had been then. 

 

She almost didn't notice the whisper of a silk lined jacket at her side. Turning, she found Jim Kirk holding two champagne flutes, and a devil-may-care grin directed at her.

 

Waggling his eyebrows, he offered one to her, “If I may have the pleasure of escorting you,” he drawled, fake accent much worse then she knew he was capable of. 

She lifted the glass from his fingers, accepting the elbow he offered and following him as he somehow carved a path between all the people in front of them. 

 

“She’s much more relaxed now,” he said, carefully steering her around some Tellarites. 

 

“You helped a lot,” she offered, “Gaila always loves when you come over.” she was sipping carefully from the flute, letting the bubbles dance over her tongue. This was good, for replicated alcohol. Jim flashed another one of his easy grins, but she could read the lift of his eyes, and the way the tips of his ears flushed red. She found it increasingly easier to read him. She wasn’t entirely certain this was due to her improving skills.

 

They reached Gaila and her entourage just as the music started, Jim offering the champagne he was carrying to her and lifting another one off a passing tray.

 

“To another incredible year,” he said raising his glass.

Nyota raised her glass to join his, Gaila following suite. “L’chaim!” he laughed, throwing the glass back as though it was nothing. Nyota paused for a moment, taking in the curve of his throat, the grin behind the delicate flute, the way Gaila’s eyes twinkled under the decorated lights, laughing and bright. 

 

“To life,” she said, downing her own glass. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, we should be back to our regularly scheduled shenanigans soon!
> 
> Edit 03/12/2019: there’s art for this on my tumblr (also under trekkele) under the “art based on fics” tag. Maybe someday I’ll figure out how to put it up here too. Maybe not.


End file.
